Lady Bird Lake

Lady Bird Lake

Lady Bird Lake

Lady Bird Lake

Parks

1. Red Bud Isle, 3401 Redbud Trail, is a leash-free dog park that also accommodates fishers, canoers and kayakers with a fishing pier and boat ramp. The park features a half-mile-long trail and several spots for dogs to swim. www.austinparks.org

2. Deep Eddy Pool, located at 401 Deep Eddy Ave., is the oldest swimming pool in Texas. Deep Eddy is a historic landmark owned and operated by the City of Austin. 472-8546, www.austinparks.org, www.deepeddy.org

3. Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail runs alongside Lady Bird Lake from the MoPac bridge to the Pleasant Valley bridge in East Austin. Runners, walkers and cyclists may use several other bridges, including South First Street and Congress Avenue bridges, to make the route anywhere from 3.1 to 10.15 miles. www.thetrailfoundation.org

4. The Austin Nature and Science Center is located at 310 Nature Center Drive in Zilker Park. The center features wildlife exhibits, a dinosaur pit, a naturalist workshop and trade counter, the Beverly S. Sheffield Education Center and Nature’s Way Preschool. There are many opportunities for volunteers. 974-3888, www.austintexas.gov/department/austin-nature-science-center

6. Butler Park, 1000 Barton Springs Road, was established in 2007 by the City of Austin. It is irrigated with nonpotable water from Lady Bird Lake, and the Liz Carpenter Fountain is a popular attraction for children and others looking to cool down. www.austinparks.org

7. The Lady Bird Lake Trail runs through Auditorium Shores, 920 W. Riverside Drive, which features an off-leash area for dogs and is the site for outdoor concerts and festivals. The park is the home of a statue of blues music legend Stevie Ray Vaughn, who lived much of his life in Austin. 974-6797, www.austinparks.org

8. Buford Tower, 200 W. Cesar Chavez St., was used as a training facility for Austin firefighters from 1931–74. The tower is named after Capt. James L. Buford, an Austin firefighter who died in the line of duty in 1972. It is an official historical marker.

Future Development

9. In order to close a gap in the Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail, the City of Austin and the Trail Foundation plan to build the Lady Bird Lake boardwalk. The $21 million project will be funded with city bond money and $3 million in donations from The Trail Foundation. The boardwalk will stretch 7,000 feet on the southern bank of the lake, where trail users have had to use Riverside Drive and I-35 to connect back to the trail. Construction is expected to begin in August, and the projected completion date is February 2014.

10. Construction began July 9 on the Waller Creek Tunnel Outlet, which is part of a coordinated effort between several parties to revitalize the Waller Creek area in downtown Austin and reclaim it from the floodplain. The tunnel will convey flood water into Lady Bird Lake.

Recreation

11. Austin Rowing Club, 74 Trinity St., is a nonprofit organization that promotes rowing in Austin. The club operates out of the Waller Creek Boathouse and offers classes for adults and youth. 472-0726, www.austinrowing.org, Twitter: www.austinparks.org

14. Capital Cruises has put on events for its clients on the Highland Lakes since 1991. Located at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 208 Barton Springs Road, the company offers lunch and dinner cruises, wedding events, bat-watching excursions, and other boat services. 480-9284,www.capitalcruises.com, Twitter: @capitalcruises

17. Austin Water Bikes rents out water bikes—floating bicycles that allow the user to traverse the lake without getting wet—and also offers tours on Lady Bird Lake. 200-6555 www.austinwaterbikes.com, Twitter: @austinwaterbike

18. The world’s largest urban bat colony resides underneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. About 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats live in crevices beneath the bridge and emerge together at sunset to eat mosquitoes and other insects. The best months to see the emergence are July and August. 327-9721, www.batcon.org

Business

19. RunTex has two locations next to the Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail. RunTex Riverside, 422 W. Riverside Drive, features training space located in the store’s parking lot. Developers have submitted a zoning request to redevelop the lot into a mixed-use development with residential and retail uses. The second RunTex location off the trail is RunTex @ Lake Austin, 2201 Lake Austin Blvd., which is a smaller store aimed at immediate training needs of runners at the MoPac bridge trailhead. Riverside: 472-3254; Lake Austin: 477-9464, www.runtex.com

20. The Austin American-Statesman, 305 S. Congress Ave., is a daily newspaper owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, Inc. and had an average Sunday circulation of 153,817 for the six months ending March 31, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations Consolidated Media Report. 445-4040, www.statesman.com

Arts and Entertainment

21. ZACH Theatre, 1510 Toomey Road, was founded in 1933, and is the oldest continuously operating theater in Texas. The Topfer Theatre is scheduled to have its world premiere at the beginning of the season after being paid for in part with $10 million in bond funds from the City of Austin. 476-0541, www.zachtheatre.org, Twitter: @zachtheatre

22. The Long Center for the Performing Arts, 701 W. Riverside Drive, is a redevelopment of the Lester E. Palmer Auditorium. The Long Center reopened in March 2008 and is home to a variety of performance events. 474-5664, www.thelongcenter.org

Residential

23. Brackenridge Apartments, 3501 Lake Austin Blvd., and Colorado Apartments, 2501 Lake Austin Blvd., are home to University of Texas families, graduate students and undergraduate students with at least 30 credit hours are eligible for university apartments.www.utexas.edu/student/housing/

Dining

24. Locally owned juice and smoothie shop JuiceLand, 2307 Lake Austin Blvd., has a location near Deep Eddy Pool and the water station for the hike and bike trail. 628-0782, www.juicelandaustin.com

26. Neighborhood beer bar Deep Eddy Cabaret, 2315 Lake Austin Blvd., sells beer in icy mugs as well as a selection of bottled beer. The bar has pool tables, a jukebox with a mix of country-western, soul and rock music, and a patio. 472-0961, www.deepeddycabaret.com

Education

27. The Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd., is an off-campus University of Texas biological research site used for the university’s College of Natural Sciences. The 82-acre facility is home to 1,200 species of butterflies and moths, 180 species of birds, 370 species of plants, 200 species of native bees, and the entomology collection houses 500,000 specimens. 471-2114, bfl.utexas.edu

28. Austin High School, 1715 W. Cesar Chavez St., was originally dedicated on Sept. 14, 1881, though it is no longer in its original building. The school’s slogans include “Everybody Is Somebody at Austin High” and “Loyal Forever.” 414-2505

Lodging

29. Hostelling International Austin, 2200 S. Lakeshore Blvd., is a nonprofit organization. Its mission is “To help all, especially the young, gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through hostelling.” 444-2294, www.hiaustin.org, Twitter: @hiaustin

This is a sample of businesses and organizations in the area. The list is not comprehensive.